Newspapers / The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.) / Aug. 27, 1940, edition 1 / Page 11
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Interesting Story Told About Old Confederate "Rai Ironclad Railt on Roanoke Brought | Complete Change in Naval Warfare Completed April 18, 1864, Ram Had Brief But Brilliant Career Ship Wait Finally Blown Up By Torpedo While At Anchor (A year ago this paper carried a story about the Confederate Ram, "Albemarle". It occasioned much in terest at that time, and in April of this year, John W. Darden, of Plym outh, wrote a story about the famous old (hip commemorating the 76th an niversary of its launching. The story by Mr Darden is carried below.Ed.). By JOHN W. DARDEN Seventy sis years ago tomorrow the Confederate ship, the Ram Albemarle, saw Its first active service In the Roa noke River lie re at Plymouth. Tlie construction of this Iron clad ship actually revolutionized naval warfare In the world. The Iron-clad system had been but recently inven ted by a man by the name of John L Porter, of Norfolk. Va, and that sys tem had been used In the construc tion of this ship. When Roanoke Island was captured by the Federal troops, Ool W F Mar tin and Lieut. Ollbert Elliott were engaged In the building of a gunboat at Deep Creek. Virginia They were ordered to destroy the boat, which liad been nearly completed, and to make their escape with about 150 la borers, who had been working un der their directions They then ap plied to'the Confederate Government for a contract to build another gun boat at Tarboro. on Tar River. Hiey begun at one to build the ship, which being constructed under the direct supervision of J. W. Oook, of the Con federate Navy. Work on this boat had Just begun when Peter Evans 8mith recommended a more suitable place for the construction of such a ship In the south sliore of Roanoke River at Edwards Ferry. An Inspec tion of the site recommended by Mr Smith was made by Martin and El Itott, who agreed with Mr. Smith and recommended the change to the Con federate headquarters at Richmond. Va. The Confederate Government accepted their recommendation and directed them to construct at once a floating battery Instead of a gun boat, which was to be sheathed with iron. Martin and Elliott begun at once to build such a craft. Mr. Smith took the contract to furnish the tim ber for the boat and Martin and El liott supervised the actual construc ttn. which proceeded rapidly and the boat was launched In a few months. This boat proved to be so unworthy that the Iron was never put on It and It was soon abandoned The Confederate Navy then con-i tracted with Gilbert Elliott to con struct a gunboat, to be named "Albe marle" at the same site where the other one had been built Elliott. In order to carry out his agreement with the Confederate Na vy as soon as possible, associated with liim Peter E. Smith, of Scotland Neck, whose father. William R. Smith, own ed the site and land upon which the Albemarle was to be built. They later associated with them in work the brother of Peter E. Smith, Wil liam H Smith. The ship was con flftrnctftl from plms prepared by John L. Porter, of Norfolk. Va. Elliott, then only eighteen years of age but with the appearance of a man of thirty years of age and with an unusual mind and experience had charge of finances and general man agement He left the actual building to his associate Peter Evans Smith, who had much experience and great engineering skill. W. H. Smith had charge qt all supplies and The contract as has been stated be fore, called for the construction of a gunboat but this plan was later ?h.n^ and a ram was constructed Instead. No ship was ever construct ed under more adverse circumstanc es. The shipyard was in an open corn field and several miles from the near est shop or machinery of any kind. It appeared impossible to obtain tools and machinery to work with. Iron and steel was scarce and the task seemed to them practically Impossi ble. However, while timbers were be ing gathered at the site by Mr. Smith, Mr. Elliott was running here and there to gather together such ma terial as was possible to find. He did collect quite a bit of old railroad iron. which was "smelted and rolled into pints by Tredeger Iron "Works, of Richmond. The vessel was 1S8 feet in legth, 16 feet 3 Inches wide and drew 8 feet and 3 Inches of water, drawing 9 feet when loaded. It was equipped with two horizontal non-condensing link motion angina geared to its propellers. The diameter of its cylinders was IS Inches with a IB Inch stroke with two boilers heated by one furnace The boilers were 16 feet 4 Inches long. The smoke stack was 4 fleet and 7 Inches In diameter. A section of this stack Is now In the North Carolina hall of history, which shows many holes and scars of battle. It was constructed principally of pine timber caulked with cotton. Its ram was 13 feet long of oak and tapered to 4 Inches square at the end. which had stripe of Iron an each side two Inches wtde. The vessel, when launched, floated very low. with only the deck and casement being above the water. The casement or deck house was SO feet long and - constructed of massive pine timbei and covered with 4 inch pine board* or planking which was covered with two layers of steel plate or armor bolted to the pine timbers At this stage In the construction of tile great vessel, the contractors were faced with a real problem The plate steel, which was shipped from Rich mond to Halifax, the nearest railroad station, was plain flat steel wihout holes The problem of drilling the holes to fasten It to the ship was per plexing It took a long time to drill holes through the plate with luuid drills, about twenty minutes to each piece To spend this much time on each of the pieces of plate meant many months of work to prepare the many thousands of pieces of steel for use. It has been said that necessity Is the mother of Invention. Mr. Pe ter Smith, using his Inventive mind, invented the twist drill, which enabled them to make'"the holes In four minutes. The strip was taken?to Halifax, where the armor plate was delivered by the railroad, and the platfc was soon put In place on the vessel. The heavy guns were also put on the ship at Halifax She was soon ready for action Porges and black smith equipment were put aboard and the crew worked feverishly to finish the work as it drifted down the Roa noke River. The armanent consisted of two 8 Inch rifles mounted on pivot carriages, which enables each gun to work through three portholes. These port holes were protected by heavy steel plate, which could be raised or lowered as needed, to protect the gunners on the inside When the great vessel was ready for service, the Confederate Navy sent Captain James W. Cook to take command when It went into action. Capt. Cook was a brave and gallant Christian gentle man and officer. The engagement The Albemarle was begun In the spring or 1863 and completed on Ap ril 18, 1884, seventy six years ago yes terday. Because of high water In the river, the vessel was enabled to move steadily on down the river to Plym outh withstanding shell-fire from two forts ahnve Plymouth and on April 18th she engaged the Southfleld, which she rammed and sunk, and the Miami, two of the Federal gun boats which guarded the fortifications of the Federal Troops at Plymouth. The Miami, being lashed to the Al bemarle by its crew, fired a shell against the Albemarle, which re bounded and killed Capt. C. W. Flus ser, the commander of the Federal Naval forces at Plymouth, and many others brills men. The death of Capt. Flusser, however, did not daunt the troops of his ship. They made an ef fort to board the Albemarle, which was repulsed by the brave crew of the vessel. The Miami a fast side wheeler, soon took flight and eluded de struction by the Albemarle and her crew, going out of the river into the Albemarle Bound. The next day, April 20th, General R F Hoke, aided by General M. W. Ranson, with the Ram Albemarle to guard the water front, attacked the land fortifications and captured Plymouth. I might add that the battle of Plymouth was per haps the hardest fought battle fought on North Carolina soil during the War Between the States. In addition to sinking of the Southfleld and driv ing the Miami out of the river, the XHMBSFET had captured several smaller craft. On May 5th. Capt. Cook steamed out of the Roanoke River Into the Albemarle Sound with the Albemarle and two tenders, the Bombshell and the Cotton Plant, both of which had been captured a few days before by the Albemarle, and engaged seven well armoured and well equipped gun boats armed with 55 guns. The Albe marle. as has been stated before, had only two 8 inch rifles, one of which was damaged in the early part of the battle In which it was then en gaged. Capt. Cook and his gallant crew continued to use the damaged gun, however, as best they could un til the battle was over. The vessels engatfd In this battle, which occur red iwthe Alebmarle Sound between Leonuds Point and Bandy Point and is crossed by the new Albemarle Sound Bridge, on the Confederate side were the Albemarle. Bombshell and Cotton Plant. The Federal ships were the Miami, Mattabesett, Sas sarus. Whitehead. Wyaluslng. Com modore Hull and the Ceres. The bat :le raxed from 2 o'clock m the after 10011. May 5th 1864, until nightfall. THE CONFEDERATE STATES' IRONCLAD RAM, "THE ALBEMARLE" | ; The above drawing Is from a picture hi the (overumeiit publication. "Official Records of the Union and Confederate .Navies in the War of the Rebellion." and is a true-to-life portrayal of the famous ironclad, which was put into active service just 16 years ago. Based at Plymouth and partirtpallni in a number of battles in and near here, the ram was Anally blown up by the daring exploit of a handful of Union sailors. when the Albemarle returned to Plymouth, the Bombshell beats re captured by the Federal forces. I am unable to learn Just what happened to the Cotton Plant The Federal forces surrounded the Albemarle and hurled their gun-fire at her without effect The Comman der of the Sassacus gives the follow 'ing description of the battle; "The ' Sassacuss, which at close range, gave fthc Atbemarte one Broadside after another with soHd tunc mch USST without affecting her i tiyities The guns might as well hav? fired blank shells, for the shot skimmed off into the air. Even the 100 pound shot I from our pivot rifles glanced off from the sloping sides and roof without ef-1 feet at all The feeliiut of helpless ness that comes from the failure of heavy guns to make am mark on an j advancing foe can never he describ ed." The Sassacus .then attempted to sink the Albemarle She drew otT a few yards and pointed her bow di rectly at the broadside of the Albe marle and the order. Full steam ahead." was given by t he_i ;onimtynrter She struck the Albemarle at the j-eai -end of the casement. Tire jar gave the vessel sj^ch an upset that the stern was driven sevend ft-ft bohm the water. The crew thought at first that the vessel was sinking and the Commander gave the command to the men. Stand by your guns, if we must go down let us go down like brave men." The vessel was soon righted and the brave tight continued A well directed shot from the Albe marle pierced the Sassacus and tore a hole through the boilers of the ship, which rendered the vessel help less. The screams of the men. which was caused by the escaping steam and VYSWERS CALL ?The last personal link con necting the construction and ac tivities of the old Albemarle Ram with th?? present uras InoL en last October when Thomas P. Johnston died at Ins home in Salisbury. Posing for the above photograph when he was a young man. Mr Johnston was a member of the Albemarle crew, serving as "powder monkey" and as paymaster special. boiling water, could be heard above the noise of battle One man aboard the Albemarle, who put his head out a"porthole to see .what was going on, was killed by pistol shot from the Miami This is the only death that 1 the Confederates had during the bat tle The Federals lost several It is said that the scarcity of fuel and the bad condition of the stack caused the crew of the Albemarle to have to use bacon for fuel to enable them to make port at Plymouth af ter the battle. V-Eruni tins battle, which oeeufed ort May 5Ui 1M4 until October 27th 1864. nie >hip lay at anchor at Plymouth. The Federals well knew that, with the Ram Albemarle in etmtmand of the water front at Plymouth, they would never be able to recapture the place They made several attmpts to i torpedo the vessel, which was finally accomplished by Lieut. W B pushing, on the night pi October 27. 1864 '(.'apt Wuilov be-inc in command of .Ilk- vessel at that tune I The boat was raised by the United State - Government in 1867 and taken to Norfolk, Vu . where it was sold on October 15th. of that same year to J N Lenard and Company for the -urn of >3.200 00 Before she was finally dismantled the Commander of the navy yard had a picture of her made and framed in wood taken from hek and presented it to Mis James W Cook, the widow of the great ship's commander, who was then living in Portsmouth. The smokestack and the Mag are preserved to tins day The smokestack being in the hall of iiistor.N. Raleigh N.C.. and the lliig being m the North Carolina room- of the Confederate Museum Richmond. Va The Albemarle was a North Caro lm boat built on North Carolina soil by North Carolina men of North Ca C 11:i ued ? :, m \ t gage You Have Put in A Lot Of HARD WORK J AND EARNED EVERY PENNY ()S \ our Money MARTIN COUNTY farmer** are to Im- congratulated upon their Ii11?' erop of tohaeeo? undonhtedlv the fust in~thr histoo of tin- count >. Wo sincerely hope prices will he good and thai von will make a prol it 011 every aere. Rut, regardless of the price, only you know the trouble and the ex pense you have heeu put to in producing this fine erop ? the hard work on hot days, the sleepless nights?and therefore you alone ran appreciate the eare which should he taken with the mono voii re eeive for it?the fruits of a whole \ car's work. DON'T TAKE CHANCES! Put your hard-earned money in n sale IkiiiK. in nil iinstilnlion 111? officer* of which give first consideration lo *afcl\ in handling their depositors' funds. The Brunch Bunking uml Trust <lnmpau\ never forgets the money it handle* belong* lo ils depositor*. nod every in veMtnient in made with thin in mind. We Offer a (Complete Banking Service ? ami ill Be Glad To Extend Tvery Acctunmo tlotion Which Is Consistent With Sale ami Soum! Banking Principles BRANCH BANKING & TRUST COMPANY Member Federal Depoeil Insurance Corporation - WILLIAlHSTON? N.
The Enterprise (Williamston, N.C.)
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Aug. 27, 1940, edition 1
11
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